Both novels contain
figures who work in partnership with other people to accomplish their deeds. For Ned Kelly, he
is clearly associated with other people, as the title suggests. His "gang" becomes
very important to him, as although they commit crimes and are hunted by the police, they as a
group achieve a heroic status amongst the poor people, who see them as championing their cause
and fighting against injustice. Ned Kelly is supported in his final stand to the end by his
gang, with figures such as Byrne, Dan Kelly and Hart dying in the final stand where Ned Kelly is
captured alive and taken. Ned Kelly is thus supported by his gang and this allows him to build
his heroic status.
In Capote's account of the infamous Clutter killings,
Perry Smith and Dick Hickock are shown to work together in the killings, although the novel
suggests that Perry Smith committed the murders himself with Dick Hickock acting as accomplice.
In this text, however, the crime is obviously an act that is unquestionably wrong and does not
gain Hickock and Smith the kind of popularity as Ned Kelly and his gang gained. What is
interesting about this criminal partnership however is the way that Capote clearly focuses the
reader's sympathies on the figure of Perry. Note the following description of how Perry
encourages Dick to pick up some hitchikers:
But Perry,
little old big-hearted Perry, was always pestering Dick to pick up the damndest,
sorriest-looking people.
The description of Perry as
"little old big-hearted Perry" clearly indicates Capote's bias towards Perry. Even
though in this text Perry is shown to be the one who committed the murders a very interesting
picture of Perry develops with Dick presented as more of a "true" criminal. Perry, it
is suggested, is "better" than his accomplice because of the suffering he experienced
as a child.
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